RISON - It will be right back into the fire for the Rison Wildcats this Friday night, when they travel to Fordyce for their second straight crucial 6-3A Conference battle, this time with the rival Redbugs. Kickoff time for the 71st consecutive game in the rivalry is scheduled for 7 o'clock.
After coming from behind in the second half last Friday to defeat Camden Harmony Grove, 36-15, to hand the Hornets their first conference setback, the Wildcats must now focus on another opponent that is also undefeated in 6-3A play. Long-time coach Tim Rodgers' Redbugs are 3-0 in the conference and 5-2 overall, and they will face Harmony Grove next after meeting Rison.
Coach Clay Totty's Wildcats, now 2-0 in the conference and 5-0 on the season, will for the second straight week go up against a foe they have lost to in their last three meetings, the defeats at the hands of the Redbugs in 2019, 2020 and 2021 by a combined 11 points. Last year at Fordyce, the Redbugs scored a touchdown with just under 5 minutes left in the game to pull out a 20-16 victory over the 'Cats. Rison went into last week's game with Harmony Grove having lost three straight times to the Hornets.
And Totty is quick to point out the big play potential of the Redbugs that has carried them for several years now. One only has to go back to last year's game at Fordyce, where the Redbugs' 3 touchdowns came on plays of 62, 52 and 44 yards, accounting for 158 yards of the team's 257 yards in total offense. In Rison's 29-28 loss to Fordyce in 2020, three of the Redbugs' four touchdowns came from 35, 72 and 44 yards. So, giving up the big scoring play to Fordyce has definitely been a thorn in the side of the 'Cats.
'They (Fordyce) have some athletes,' Totty remarked. 'They all have big play potential, and they can get it from a lot of different people and from anywhere on the field. Just like last week, we're going to need our offense to help our defense to try and keep them ...
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